The
conference aims to facilitate exchange of ideas and establish
new connections between researchers from different fields
working on problems in materials science and biology that
involve nonconvex nonlocal interactions and incompatibility,
as well as other closely related issues. Conference topics
include plasticity and phase transitions in crystals,
nucleation and evolution of defects and microstructures in
crystal lattices, self-organized criticality and avalanches,
crystallization, wrinkling, rupture processes in earthquakes,
morphogenesis, cell motility, growth and remodeling of
biological tissues, mechanics of muscles and protein motors.
Mathematical studies of such problems involve multiscale
variational methods and homogenization, stochastic analysis,
differential geometry and analysis of nonlinear partial,
functional and lattice differential equations.

Venue, conference
schedule and abstracts:

The conference will be held in room 125 of
the Frick Fine Arts Building at the University of Pittsburgh. Registration
will begin at 8:20 am on Friday, May 5, and the conference will end by 5 pm on
Sunday, May 7.

Local information
and accommodation:

Travel

Pittsburgh International
Airport (PIT) is 20.5 miles away from the University of
Pittsburgh (30-45 minutes driving time depending on the time
of day). Due to the Pittsburgh
Marathon being held on Sunday, May 7, and some
pre-marathon events held on Friday and Saturday, the air
traffic into and out of the city is expected to be much larger
than usual over the weekend. We therefore strongly recommend
arranging your travel plans well in advance of the
conference. Marathon-related road closures will also cause
traffic delays in the city, so please plan accordingly.

Hotels

If you are a plenary speaker,
the conference organizers will be in touch with you about
the hotel reservation. All other participants must make
their own accommodation arrangements.

A large block of rooms was
reserved at the Hampton
Inn for the conference participants, at the rate $131
per night. The rate includes hot breakfast, free high speed
internet and free parking. Reservations must be made
either online using this
link or by calling the hotel at 412-681-1000
(tell them you are part of the "Pitt mathematics conference"
group) by April 17, 2017. The conference venue and
restaurants on campus are within a walking distance from the
hotel (see this
map for the directions) and can be reached by bus (see
these directions (the fare is $2.75, and the exact change is required, note that the directions are for 61C but you can also take 61A or 61D - for all of these, from the hotel, get on the bus at the stop "Forbes Ave at Craft Ave", 3 minutes walk from the hotel, and exit at "Forbes Ave at Bigelow Blvd", walking another 3 minutes to the conference venue). The
hotel also provides a complimentary shuttle, which, however,
will not be able to transport all participants staying at
the hotel, so please use this option only when necessary.

A smaller block of rooms was
also reserved at the Residence
Inn ($189 per night, includes breakfast and free high
speed internet, parking fee is $15). Reservations
must be made by calling Amy Gabbard at 412-586-2652 or the general hotel number at 412-621-2200 (tell
them you are part of "Nonconvexity
Conference") by March 29, 2017. This hotel is
also within walking distance from the conference venue (see
this map
for the directions).

Other hotels near campus
include Quality
Inn, Hilton
Garden Inn and Wyndham
Hotel. Keep in mind, however, that due to the
marathon, many local hotels will be either booked or have
higher rates, so it is a good idea to take advantage of the
university-negotiated rate at the Hampton Inn by making your
reservation before the April 17 deadline.

Local
transportation and driving directions

There are several options to
get to the campus from the airport.

Uber: current estimate for the fare from the airport
is $25-33 for uberX and $40-53 for uberXL.

zTrip taxi
service (412-777-7777):
the average taxi fare from the airport to campus is
approximately $50.

SuperShuttle
(1-800-258-3826): the
fare is $25 one way for a shared-ride van.

Port Authority Transit
28X Airport Flyer: the trip cost is $3.75 one way, and the
exact change is required. The bus runs every 30 minutes
from the airport at gate #6, and the duration of the trip
to the Hampton Inn is about one hour. To
get to the Hampton Inn, get off at the stop "Forbes Ave at
Craft Ave" and walk about 2 minutes to the hotel. See the
flyer
schedule for more details.

See this
link for driving directions to the Hampton Inn and this
link for the directions to the Residence Inn.

Campus
map

Here is a campus map. The conference will
be held at the Frick Fine Arts Building, FKART on the map (F-3).

Dining
options

There are many restaurants on
and around Pitt campus, some of which are marked here.
Locals recommend Spice Island Tea House (Asian), Noodles
& Company (American/Asian), The Porch at Schenley
(American), Fuel and Fuddle (American).

Conference sponsors:

The conference
is sponsored by the Mathematics Research Center at the
University of Pittsburgh. It is also supported in part by the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) through its Participating Institution (PI) Program. PI members may use IMA/PI funds to support personnel's travel to this conference.